TNA's Moral Responsibility

Morality and ethics in the world of pro wrestling are a bit... shady... at best. It's a world filled with sleazy stories of questionable believability. If you actually buy into what you read, you would learn that Vince McMahon has helped cover up at least one murder, that Randy Savage is banned from the WWE for having sex with an underage Stephanie McMahon, that Pat Patterson has kept many a man employed in hopes of becoming a little more friendly with them, and countless others.

But this one is front and center in the headlines.

On Friday night, Kurt Angle had some type of altercation with his girlfriend who plays Rhaka Khan on TNA television. One look at Rhaka Khan will give you a world of other jokes to make about this one but apparently she called the police on Angle who was removed from the residence. She also had a protection order put in place against him, saying that she believed he was deleting her text messages and pictures detailing a history of abuse at his hands. And there's where the problem erupts.

On Saturday, she called police again, this time as Angle apparently circled a Starbucks where she was at in his car. When detained by police, they discovered he was driving with a suspended license, in violation of the protection order, and just to throw more gasoline on the fire, had a syringe and HGH in his car. Angle and his attorney claim he has a prescription for the HGH but who knows.

And after a day of speculation about whether or not Angle would appear (or be allowed to appear) on TNA's PPV last night, he did. When the show ended, Kurt Angle remained the TNA World Champion.

Now, I'm all for the innocent until proven guilty thing but... well, I would think for the sake of Public Relations alone, TNA would at least take the title off him and suspend him until the allegations were further investigated. I'm not suggesting that's the legal and appropriate thing to do here but for PR alone, it would have to be. Obviously, there have been other superstar athletes who did not take a suspension while facing criming charges - Kobe Bryant coming immediately to mind but... and I hate saying this... in a post-Benoit world in this industry, they really can't afford to turn a blind eye to allegations of abuse and potentially worse.

Kurt Angle scares me. He really does. He has seemed unstable and dangerously so ever since his WWE release. And I suppose it's quite the indictment on the industry that they need a superstar so badly, they're willing to overlook all that.

It's a tough business to be a fan of at times... a lot of times sadly.

Liveblog: TNA Impact (11-13-08)

Some people say I don't give TNA a fair chance so I thought it might be an interesting Liveblog on my day off.

The "Turning Point" highlight reel looks pretty impressive. Except for Nash. He just looks old. Poor Joe.

Foley and Jarrett kick things off - grrrrreeeeat. I'm going to call Jarrett turning on Foley to join the Main Event Mafia at some point because it just seems like a Vince Russo thing to do. It's weird to see Foley on TNA. His promo comes across forced. He's supposed to be fired-up but it just wasn't there.

Different opening since the last time I watched. It's... okay. This is the first time I've watched since the new set too. I'm not watching in HD so I guess I don't get the full effect but... well, it's better, I think, than it was. But it still looks like a low rent WWE ripoff.

Foley on his way to the ring. PPV recap. God damn, Nash looks old. Everyone else looked okay and if I didn't know better, I might even think I really missed out on a good show. Foley in-ring time. Foley's calling out the kids to give them a peptalk. He's reading off a list. I don't know if that's a work or not. It'd be pretty funny if Foley couldn't remember their names. The TNA video wall you can seen on the hard cam shot looks pretty good.

So, since Petey's not Steiner's Mini-Me anymore, how come he still looks like Steiner? Foley just said you don't win a World Series with four strikeouts. That's... odd. He just asked Shelley if he's "playing with a booger." Wow. I really have been too hard on TNA. I guess Shelley's supposed to be the cocky youngster who doesn't respect his colleagues. Uh oh! Foley threatened to deal with him next week - and I don't care. Foley needs to stop saying "ass" if they're going to keep bleeping it. This promo blows. It's boring and has none of the fire of Foley's best work. Eric Young's getting pushed again, I guess. I like Eric Young outside the ring - not sure how I feel about him inside the ring. Joe and AJ against Beer Money for the titles. That might be fun. Sting ve Lethal... oh, sorry... Black Machismo. I can't believe he's still using that gimmmick.

Parking lot interview with Christian and the Main Event Mafia. Sting looks weird in a suit. Steiner looks like a badass always. I guess it's some kind of a sign that Sting as the World Champ has to stand in the back. Did Nash just smell the interviewer woman? Creepy. Christian threw away the suit they gave him! Ooooooh snap!

ODB is backstage. She called the interview woman "Sugartits" which made me giggle, I must admit. Apparently ODB is getting her own interview show. Pretty sure that won't make me tune in.

Awesome Kong! One of the things about TNA that I actually enjoy. But she's teaming with Steiner's former freak so I'm not happy. I'd love to see Kong in the WWE just tear through the entire women's division to build up to a big showdown with Beth Phoenix. That'd be the most fun women's division angle since the Trish/Mickie angle. Tag match with Roxxi and Taylor Wilde. I can see why the WWE got rid of Taylor. I mean, she's cute enough but she blends in with the rest of the Divas. Plus, she looks like she can actually wrestle and we just can't have that. I do give TNA credit for building a hell of a women's division though. I really enjoy the Beautiful People. Just as I say that, this match fell apart to being barely watchable. Kong wins. She's just too cool. She's wasted in TNA post-Gail feud but Vince probably wouldn't give her the time of day.

MCMGs promo. Alex Shelley is ranting. There was a "Communist Russia" reference as well as a "Ghostbusters" one. Awesome. Sabin's not as fun. He delivers the serious part of the promo and sucks at it.

Apparently whassherface is the "Commissioner" of the women's division now. That's lame. Raesha Saed says Kong is going to hurt civilians next week if she doesn't get competition - even if it means vacationers who worship "that stupid mouse." That's awesome. I wish I could pick and choose the good parts of TNA into like... a thirty minute show.

X-Division Title match with Eric Young against the former Daivari who they've turned into a terrorist gimmmick. Stay classy, Orlando. This'll sound bad but was Daivari always this dark? Do they have chairs in the Impact Zone? The ringside people always appear to be standing. I remember seeing Daivari in a dark match at a WWE show years ago when he was doing the Flying Carpet gimmick. Eric Young is pretty dull inside the ring. Not exactly the kind of wrestler I'd choose to represent the X-Division. Uh oh. It's a face ref! The ref is hulking up! That's a pretty big pop for the ref. Young wins the title when the ref beats up Daivari... and I don't care. So, the ring fills up with people to celebrate. And by "fills up" I mean Consequences Creed, Jay Lethal, Petey Williams, and ODB. Three guys who should be after that same title - and ODB. Oh, the Guns come out too and subtly golf clap. They rule.

EY gives a post-match peptalk to the others. Blah. AJ looks sorta into it. Joe just looks annoyed and the Guns seem to be mocking him. I don't know if it's too early to have infighting within the "TNA Originals" but at least the reactions of those three seem to fit their characters.

"Rough Cut" with LAX. That's kind of a cool idea. I'll give them props for that. Hernandez lifting weights - the guy is a monster. I guess it was just about Hernandez since Homicide didn't speak. Still a pretty cool segment.

Main Event Mafia promo. Kurt speaks for the group which seems weird to me with Sting holding the big gold. Petey shows up to talk to Steiner. Steiner kicks him out of the room and says he'll talk to him later. Whatever.

Jay Lethal promo. The Savage gimmick has to go. If you want to put the Originals over as taking this seriously, have Lethal give up the gimmick and say it's time to get serious? Give the guy a chance to get over on his own. If he bombs, put him back in the gimmick. Petey's buddies with him now. Weren't they just feuding? The interviewer chick warns Petey to be careful when he talks to Steiner. Petey says Steiner's got his hook-up. Yeah. He's gonna get taken out by the Mafia.

Tenay says, "There's never been a faction in the history of pro wrestling where every member has been a former World Champion." That could be true. I'd have to think about it for a while. Steiner vs Rhino. Good lord. Rhino's fallen a long way from when I used to really look forward to his matches. He's lost the in-ring intensity that really made him fun. Steiner's wrestling in a shirt now. His arms are still huge though so I don't think he's getting off the juice. Wow. Steiner has to cheat to beat Rhino. Interesting.

Interview with Sting. That wasn't a bad promo. Mr. Borden's still got a little in the tank.

Sting vs Lethal for the gold. The match isn't bad but it's nothing great so far. The MCMGs come out to ringside which interests me a little bit. Botched spot too close to the ropes. Sabin holds Sting for Lethal. Jay doesn't want to do it. He's a good guy! He throws Sabin out of the ring. And Sting takes advantage to win. If nothing else, this proves Dark Helmet was right when he said, "Evil will always beat good because good is dumb." AJ and Joe come out to yell at the Guns. If we get a Joe/AJ vs Guns feud out of this, I'm in.

The Mafia is beating up Petey. Nash should Mysterio him into a wall. But no. Just trash cans and a breakaway 2x4. Steiner's beating the crap out of him while wearing his sunglasses. That's pretty cool. Tenay says, "I've never seen anything like this from any faction at any time in wrestling history." Really? A backstage beatdown? Hasn't pretty much every faction at every time in wrestling history done something like that?

Petey's "in a pool of his own blood." The announcers should lay out in those segments. It might have more... impact... no pun intended.

Backstage promo with Beer Money. Apparently they are neither Main Event nor Original. For now anyways. Eventually it'll probably be nWo style where everyone is either in the Mafia or against them. Wow. Miss Jackie looks old. That was a nice, effective, simple promo.

Ok. So, there's a Jarrett hype piece that starts with, "I have been a World Champion everywhere I've been." Did I miss something? I'm pretty sure Vince never got that nutty when Dubba J was up in New York.

Joe's music is pretty awesome. It's quite ominous. I guess it's Main Event time. I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict this'll be a fun match until some wacky overbooking takes control and ruins it.

It's a pretty solid match but the Dudleys on commentary bugs me. Wow. There was a DQ because Bubba spit beer on someone. Fuck TNA.

Oh, so the Main Event is actually Christian joining the Mafia. Well, that's sure to have some great work in it.

THEY'RE SHOOTING, MY GOD! THEY'RE SHOOTING! So, the Main Event is the Mafia beating down Christian because he may be "jumping ship." To me, that only makes sense if Christian's staying with the company.

Anyways... show's over. It was okay but I wouldn't have been sad if I missed it.

Everyone's A Critic!

Before I start my screenplay writing for the day (still not sure which one to write by the way), I thought I'd get today's post out of the way. I woke up and checked my e-mail to find a comment left by our good friend Poff Daddy...

"What's Happening Big Dog? Hey, I thought you were a baseball and wrestling fan? What? No comment on Yankee stadium closing? No comment on Mick Foley in TNA? Plus the Ultimate Fighter is back and no comment on that? Wow!!! I used to look up to you. You let me down my friend. Lets get back to basics and keep the game plan going when you first started as a young blogger pup. Later Poff Daddy"

God forbid I disappoint anyone with my random ramblings! Let's talk about the topics you want to talk about and forget all about anything that scratches beyond the surface and makes you think a little bit.

Yankee Stadium is closing and that's a horrible thing. It bums me out beyond belief that I wasn't able to get to New York this year to see the House That Ruth Built before it closed up shop for the last time. I understand the need for older stadiums to close for financial reasons but that doesn't mean I have to like it. You're telling me that the Yankees need a new stadium to make money? Nah. They're just greedy. I can't believe Yankee fans let that historic stadium go away without a fuss. I think I'd chain myself in front of the bulldozers if they ever came for my Blue Heaven On Earth. It's just another example of corporate America pissing all over the history that came before it in order to make a buck. God bless Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Dodger Stadium - the only stadiums left in baseball with true character.

Mick Foley in TNA? Does anyone really care? Let's look at this rationally. The rumors say he signed a six month contract to do two matches. He's coming in on the face side of this fucked up Millionaires Club vs New Blood Part 2 angle that Vince Russo has decided he should try again after it failed miserably in the dying days of WCW. An old, crippled former wrestler who retired years ago is part of the New Blood? I don't get it. They don't get it. And they likely never will. Jeff Jarrett is back on my TV and without having even watched a second of it, I already want him to go away again. TNA just won't be something worth watching every week until they figure out that they need to clean house creatively - and I mean everyone. You've got one of the greatest minds in the business in the employ of the company - and he's an on-air figurehead and nothing more? You've got another one of the greatest minds in the business as a free agent and you're throwing money at Kevin Nash instead of Mr. Heyman? Look, if TNA wants me to take them seriously, they should take themselves seriously. Throw money at Heyman and put him, Cornette, Foley, and hell, maybe even someone like Bill Watts in a room and see what they come up with. It'd be an explosive room to be in but it'd be a lot better than what they've got on TV right now. All that being said, I'm still thinking of checking out their live show when they're in Anaheim in November. It's been a long time since I've seen Styles and Joe live.

The Ultimate Fighter started up again - and I really think no one cared this time. This concept has been used so many times that what was once fresh, new, and exciting is just recycled crap. Mir and Noguiera as coaches just doesn't have the same fire as Tito and Shamrock or the like. The fighters all seem bland and personality-free. It's just a series of sometimes entertaining fights broken up by moronic frat boy type stunts where they get drunk and break apart the house they live in. Yawn. Dana needs to re-tool TUF and badly because at this stage, I couldn't even tell you who won last season - or the one before that or before that or before that. The Ultimate Fighter winner just doesn't have the same weight that it did before.

So, there you go, my friend.

My thoughts on your thoughts? Try to keep an open mind and think about stuff other than the same stuff you've always thought about. There's a whole new world out there - a dazzling place you never knew. Let me share this whole new world with you.

News And Reaction: The Wrestling Edition

I figured it's been a while since I've tossed some Rassle Talk on this blog so... here goes!

NEWS: WWE experimenting with a little more "shock TV"
REACTION: Well, honestly, I don't know. Regal pulling the plug on Raw's main event was amusing and didn't bother me one bit. I thought it was a clever way to get some heat on the new heel. All the 'net outrage over the main event's finish not being seen is amusing - maybe it's because I grew up watching wrestling in the 80's when that was a real common ploy but it was just fine with me. Will it lead to more viewers? Maybe initially - the curiosity factor to see what will happen to Regal because of it. But an initial bump is all they'll get unless they instill a new feeling of unpredictability to every show. The ECW thing was interesting but I'm not sure an angle built off bad reaction to an announcer's performance is a good thing. Eh. I didn't even watch it, to be honest. I might tune in for the aftermath.

NEWS: TNA is... well, TNA
REACTION: I've given up again. There's just nothing worth seeing. I want to be interested in Samoa Joe as the champ since he's one of my favs but... really? I just don't care. And Russoiffic concepts like the Deuces Wild tag tourney do nothing to make me change my mind about that. Oh, not to mention the new round cage introduced one month after an all-cage match PPV. Money, baby, money.

NEWS: ROH in the Hammerstein this weekend
REACTION: In what could be the biggest weekend for the nation's top indy in its history, Ring of Honor invades the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC this weekend for an attempt to take a step up the ladder. It's a big risk to take but they have stacked the lineup for it. I'll be curious to see the results [and the attendance] as they have recently set up a couple of interesting angles to get my attention again.

NEWS: PWG snakebit
REACTION: Can't go through one of these without putting over the local product. The PWG faithful were all looking forward to their big two night tag tourney [DDT4] in a couple of weeks. They had to make the usual pre-show lineup juggling but all was well... until their champ went down with a knee injury. Now, with their big Labor Day tourney and another show with Dragon Gate on the horizon, they're scrambling again. I know what I would do... but I'm not on the writing staff for them for some unknown reason!

NEWS: XPW! XPW! XPW!
REACTION: Oh yeah, baby! The big XPW reunion show is Memorial Day weekend and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. The latest addition has a Dream Death Match with former XPW King of the Death Match Supreme taking on the quickly-becoming-legendary Necro Butcher. Now _that_ should be fun.

News & Reaction: Sports Edition

NEWS: Lakers can win top spot in West with win on Tuesday over Sacramento
REACTION: Seeding is usually so important in the NBA playoffs but with such a tough Western Conference, I'm not sure how much it matters this year. Even with a win of the top spot in the West, you could end up facing either Golden State, Denver, or Dallas. GS has given the Lakers nightmares this year. Denver is ever dangerous with Iverson and Carmelo both capable of dropping 40+ on any given night. And Dallas is a very deadly team. Dirk has seemingly been lights out in clutch situations all year long and while he's famous for having trouble translating that into the post-season, I'm not sure I'm willing to take that risk in the first round. Whoever it is, I will be in the Staples Center for Round One, Game One next weekend and hope to do a little liveblogging from the game.

NEWS: Dodgers lose 2-3 on the weekend to the Padres
REACTION: Ugh. Just plain ugh. This very easily could have been a weekend sweep - that's the bright side. The dark side is - this very easily could have been a weekend sweep... bu t the Dodgers couldn't get the job done! Friday night, I questioned some of the managerial decisions but the bullpen obviously faltered when it counted. Today, they were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. In a one run game, that's just unacceptable. I still expect the team to turn things around but it's been a very rough start to the season for the Boys in Blue.

NEWS: Matt Serra vs GSP next weekend
REACTION: I'll be doing my UFC picks later in the week but I'm starting to get pretty psyched for this fight. GSP is easily a better fighter in the eyes of most but Serra pulled it off once so you just never know. I'm a fan of Matt Serra. I think he's genuinely a good guy and I'm happy to see him enjoying success. But a loss to GSP will have everyone calling him a fluke and send him down the ladder far and fast. It's going to be a tough one to win for Serra but I'll be pulling for him.

NEWS: Blue watches TNA PPV
REACTION: I did? Oh, that's right, I did! While I watched it through less than legal means and thus didn't contribute a dime to Panda Energy, I did check out the show in hopes of seeing one of my favs, Samoa Joe, win the TNA World Title. He did and I was pleased. Oh, and the rest of the show wasn't horrid either. It wasn't enough to make me want to buy the next one but it wasn't as bad as I expected either. And I want to make my early suggestion for Frank Trigg to IMMEDIATELY replace Don West as color man or at least join the team. It was such a refreshing change from West screaming "UNFREAKINGBEELIEVABLE" at every opportunity.

NEWS: Dodger fans need to follow 10 Commandments
REACTION: No, not _the_ Ten Commandments. Not "the original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mt. Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing." What? Didn't any of you guys go to Sunday School... or watch Raiders Of The Lost Ark.. a lot? More on this tomorrow.